Bloggity Blog
mikethemadbiologist | January 23, 2007Update: I was in error (long day at work). The article was published in Wired magazine
Seed Magazine, the meatworld Overlords of ScienceBlogs, has an article about Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacterium which can be resistant to virtually every antibiotic used to treat it--and in some cases, all antibiotics.
It's pretty good, although I think A. baumanii is less of a problem than MRSA, for example. It's also never been clear to me why the strains that circulate in hospitals are resistant to fewer drugs than those recovered from environmental trauma wounds (e.g., wounded soldiers). Anyway, I…
mikethemadbiologist | January 21, 2007Here are some weekend links for you. First, the science:
The WHO gets some things right: measles.
Mark's post on the World's Evilist Programming Language makes me laugh.
Revere discusses a case of Tamiflu-resistant H5N1 influenza.
The view of global warming from Mount Thor.
Kent Hovind is going to jail for tax fraud. Apparently, while everything we have ultimately belongs to God, in a proximal sense, the U.S. government wants its cut.
Mark H. writes about oyster drills. He focuses on Urosalphinx, but I'm a Nucella fan myself.
Don't forget the most recent edition of Tangled Bank.
In case…
mikethemadbiologist | January 19, 2007One of the weird things about the internets is that one's fifteen minutes of fame get compressed even further into about fifteen seconds.
When Bora's compilation of the best science blogging of 2006 first came out, everyone blogged about it...over a twelve hour time span. So I'm going to try to keep the momentum going, and encourage everyone to pick up a copy. You know you thought about buying the book when you first heard about it, and then eighty other things to do reared their heads, so you forgot to do it. What are you waiting for? (It's my weekend plan).
mikethemadbiologist | January 18, 2007...over at The Voltage Gate (who's partying like it's 1779). Yours truly has a post there, but you should check out all of the scientific goodness.
mikethemadbiologist | January 16, 2007I'm a little under the weather, so I thought this would be a good time to talk about the 'basic concepts' idea floating around ScienceBlogs. These would be short posts that provide basic background in science for those who might not always be familiar with some of the things bandied around these parts. So feel free to leave suggestions in the comments. I can't guarantee I'll do them, but I will try to get around to them. Obviously, evolution, microbiology, and public health (along with some statistics) would be the areas I feel comfortable with (and other areas would be done much better…
mikethemadbiologist | January 14, 2007Here are some links for you. First, SCIENCE:
Liberals accept evolution more than conservatives: just in case, here are some stats for you. John Lynch reacts to some Discovery Institute distortions.
The NRC smacks around the Bush administration's new effort "to paralyze any new regulations by years of review, requirements, evaluations and paperwork." Thankfully, the Bushists backed down.
Larry Moran has a great post about the definition of evolution.
Here's another great post about filter feeders.
The other stuff:
Last week, I screwed up the link for Barbara O'Brien's "A pretty short…
mikethemadbiologist | January 7, 2007Here are some links for you. First, the science stuff:
San Francisco has made a deal to have universal, no-cost wi-fi for the whole city.
Here's a cool article on filter feeders, with a nice picture of some ascidians.
Here's a very nice post about genetic draft
Revere at Effect Measure discusses the different evolutionary rates of H3 and H1 influenza viruses.
The other stuff:
Katha Pollitt has the best New Year's resolutions EVAH!
The rightwingosphere and Holocaust deniers think the same way.
No blood for oil. Eh, not so much.
Resolve is one thing, paranoia another. Amanda explains; the…
mikethemadbiologist | January 7, 2007...but Lindsay still kicked ass* with getting NYC to take the problem of illegal advertising seriously. Well done.
*For some reason the ScienceBlogs Blogerator is becoming the Blog Censor as it won't allow certain things to be posted. Here's the link.http://www.nypress.com/19/48/news&columns/feature.cfm
mikethemadbiologist | January 1, 2007Since it was a long weekend, here is a whole bunch of links for you. First, the science stuff:
There's a new edition of Animalcules, the Carnival o'the Wee Beasties.
The Ayres Ice Shelf is disappearing. But, really, there's no such thing as global warming...
Jason Rosenhouse at EvolutionBlog rips apart Peter Hitchens Compulsive Centrism in the evolution vs. ID conflict.
Darksyde discusses the real geology of the Grand Canyon, not the faith-based version
What's left of the Amazon rainforest is turning into savannah due to global warming.
Sandra discusses how bacteria are killed by…
mikethemadbiologist | December 25, 2006Have a Merry Christmas! (Gut Yontif means happy holidays in Yiddish).
mikethemadbiologist | December 17, 2006Here are some links for you. First, the science stuff:
Revere at Effect Measure discusses the "letter report" reviewing the scant information on effects from non-drug measures to slow or contain spread of an influenza pandemic.
Revere describes another front in the Republican War on Science: the censorship front.
Here's a good primer on plankton.
There has been a norovirus outbreak in Boston.
Here's a good public health idea: VRSA hospital insurance.
Maybe antibiotics should be placed in a separate regulatory class?
The other stuff:
Maha details censorship of former government employees…
mikethemadbiologist | December 11, 2006I was at a meeting yesterday about antibiotic drug development, so this week's links are a day late. Here's the science stuff:
Some colleagues and I write a letter to the FDA about the possible approval of the antibiotic cefquinome for use in agriculture.
Global warming exists: ask the insurance companies.
The Discovery Channel Store thinks girls hate science. Amanda, Lindsay, and Shakes disagree.
Cornelia Dean writes an interesting article about some of the fundamental intellectual differences between lawyers and scientists.
Don't think that the Democratic victory will stop the Republican…
mikethemadbiologist | December 4, 2006The NY Times had a pearl-clutching article by Daniel Glover about supposed conflicts of interest that progressive bloggers have (even though they typically identify those conflicts...), which has been rebutted all over the place, so I won't waste time doing that. I do have a simple question for Glover:
How come someone like David Sirota who, whenever he discusses anything to do with Sherrod Brown or Paul Hackett, readily admits that he has a 'conflict of interest', whereas someone like Henry Kissinger, who has received millions of dollars in fees from foreign governments, is usually not…
mikethemadbiologist | December 3, 2006Here are some good links for you. First, the science:
I have a post about the politics of cholera.
Chris Mooney has the wacky idea that judges should actually know something about global warming before ruling on it.
More about Scalia's ignorance.
"Four Nobel Laureates Walk Into a Bar..."
RPM has an interesting post on the ability to estimate evolutionary histories.
Revere at Effect Measure has an excellent post on the role assumed hypotheses play in delimiting data collection: are we really looking for H5N1 influenza in humans?
The other stuff:
Kevin Vranes has a great post about the War on…
mikethemadbiologist | November 30, 2006Well, she did have an article published in the New York Press about illegal advertising in New York City. Go read.
mikethemadbiologist | November 22, 2006While I'm hardly the first blogger to ever wonder about what the bloggysphere likes and dislikes, I'm curious to find out if anyone actually reads the posts about antibiotic resistance.
Typically, I get the occasional comment or email from someone who has suffered personally from these infections. But other than that, I don't get many site hits or comments (this post was one exception). Mind you, this won't stop me from commenting on this problem, but I still wonder: does anyone actually read this stuff? Would there be issues related to this topic people would like to hear about?
Because…
mikethemadbiologist | November 19, 2006Here are some weekend links you might have missed. First, the science stuff:
PZ rips apart a creationist--it's always entertaining to read.
Corpus Callosum has a nice summary of a bunch of bloggers bothered by Bush's appointment of faith-based medical practioner Dr. Eric Keroack to head the federal Office of Population Affairs.
Both John Lynch and the Mad Biologist want you to know that we are evolutionary biologists, not "Darwinists." Calling us Darwinists makes you sound like a hick.
Nick Anthis tells us that House Minority Leader John Boehner still sucks when it comes to science.
Here's…
mikethemadbiologist | November 17, 2006That Carnival o'the Wee Beasties known as Animalcules is being hosted by Andreas Baeumer over at Baumhaus. It all looks really interesting, so check it out. And yes, I have a few contributions myself.
mikethemadbiologist | November 14, 2006
I appreciate all of you (well, except for a couple of conservatroll assholes), but this comment by "The Teachers Union" in response to a rightwing screed left in the comments is brilliant. First, the rightwing screed:
Ha. You're full of shit. The gay baiting (Foster, Haggard, Mehlman), race baiting (Steele, Harry Belafonte Calls Black Republicans tyrants, Gov. Blackwell) and hyporcisy (e.g., Michael Moore and Al Gore not practicing what they teach) comes from the democrap side.
Special interests? How about Teachers Union, Abortion death mills and welfare frauds? Why should money that I have…
mikethemadbiologist | November 8, 2006I was at the APHA meeting today in Boston (and I got to meet Revere from Effect Measure at the meeting!). About 14,000 people attend, including a lot of military personnel (between routine public health concerns and biosecurity, there are always a few in the crowd). At one talk that I would guess had around 1,000 people in the audience, maybe more, the speaker said, "I'm having a really good day. How about you?" The audience burst into raucous applause...and the military personnel had very, very large smiles on their faces. Interesting.